Nikon COOLPIX L820 16 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 30x Zoom Lens and Full HD 1080p Video (Black)

2 Comments

1. Andy

   December 8, 2013 at 9:53 am

   260 of 271 people found the following review helpful

   
   Good Value Superzoom, June 28, 2013

   By 

   Andy (The Great American West) –

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Nikon COOLPIX L820 16 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 30x Zoom Lens and Full HD 1080p Video (Black) (Electronics)

   

   Customer Video Review Length:: 1:02 Mins

   I got this camera primarily because of the reach that a 30x zoom allows me, really that’s it. I’m not a professional photographer. I’m just a guy who goes on photo kicks now and again to indulge my inner paparazzi. I think everything needs to be commemorated and documented for the purpose of later boring my friends and family. A flower, a bird, spilled ice cream… it’s all gold! While I’d love a DSLR with a telephoto lens, I just can’t justify the cost. Enter the L820. I had a Fujifilm FinePix S4200 Digital Camera which has a nice zoom, but I couldn’t get it to focus on what I wanted it to focus on. I’m glad I didn’t see a Yeti while using that camera, because the image would be blurry and no one would believe me. The Fuji has good reviews, but I wasn’t satisfied so I returned it. I continued my hunt and found the L820. Good reviews, though relatively new so not as many as the Fuji, a good zoom, a good brand. I got a smokin’ deal on it from an Amazon reseller (over $100 cheaper than Wal-Mart, and $30 cheaper than Amazon itself) so figured I’d give it a go. Pros and cons are a tried and true review method, so why mess with success?

   Pros:
   -Zoom is powerful, and with vibration reduction and a steady hand I captured some decent images without using a tripod. I never bother with digital zoom, but there’s no real need given that the optical zoom is so powerful.
   -Image quality is good. It’s not great, but it’s good. Remember, this is basically a point and shoot with a lens on steroids.
   -Shooting modes. I’ve only just begun to play with these. There are color filter options, so you can have a black and white photo showing only red, or blue, or green, or whatever. It’s artsy and interesting, although I don’t find it that useful.
   -Battery life is decent. The 4 double AAs they provide got me 647 shots, and still have a bit of life left in them. I only used flash a few times, probably under 10. As soon as these batteries die I’m going with Eneloops which are the greatest batteries on the face of the Earth if you ask me.
   -Flash not needed as often as other point and shoots. I have yet to do any spelunking which will probably require a flash, but in low light situations I found the flash could stay down and not be used and pictures turned out pretty good. I’m not a camera genius, but I think this my have something to do with the CMOS sensor being used rather than a CCD, but don’t quote me on that.
   -Low shutter lag. Isn’t this what always gets you? Look, that puppy is tap dancing while twirling a hula-hoop! Quick camera, take a picture. Then you hear the “vvvvffff”, “vvvvffff” sound of the lens trying to focus. You see the image get blurry, blurrier, not as blurrier, clearer, clear… and snap. The dog is now sniffing another dog’s butt, and no one believes what you saw. It’s not instant, but it’s pretty fast.
   -Good grippy material for preventing slipping. Nothing is worse than taking photos from a boat with your new camera when a rogue wave causes a shudder and PLUNK, your new photo machine goes in the drink because its smooth sides provided no friction. Where the battery housing is there lives a nice, rubbery grip that allows a steady hold. Of course, you should have the neck strap on anyway, so even if it does slip, it’s still attached to you.
   -AA batteries. This is the must have item for me. I hate proprietary batteries that aren’t readily available. Nothing is worse than traveling and having your battery die. Sure you can charge it, but that takes time. Being able to swap out some AA batteries which are easy to get at your local stop and rob is a huge convenience.

   Cons:
   -No view finder. C’mon Nikon, this thing is already too big for my pocket, you might as well add a view finder.
   -LCD hard to see in bright sun with sunglasses. I know this might be picky, but if it’s bright out, and you’re outside, you’re probably wearing sunglasses to keep your rods and cones from melting. I found that if I wanted to get a good look at the LCD, I had to raise my glasses and allow the UV light of our sun to start burning my retina while reviewing photos or changing settings.
   -Battery housing door is a pain. I’m not sure if there is any way around this, because the batteries have to have pressure pushing up so they touch the conductive material on the battery door to give your camera power, but it’s a pain to close the door. Not a deal breaker, but just something to be aware of because that’s also where the SD card resides.

   Final word:
   If you’re a pro, you might look down your nose at this camera. If you’re looking at this camera, and reading this review, you’re probably just a regular person like me, or a pro who understands what this camera is for. I’m pleased…

   Read more

   Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

   Was this review helpful to you? 
   

   
   |

    Comments (3)

   Reply
2. C. Wilson

   December 8, 2013 at 9:26 am

   811 of 832 people found the following review helpful

   
   Excellent Point and Shoot Camera Easy to Use Amazing Pics, June 24, 2013

   By 

   C. Wilson (Rochester, NY) –
     

   This review is from: Nikon COOLPIX L820 16 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 30x Zoom Lens and Full HD 1080p Video (Black) (Electronics)

   

   Customer Video Review Length:: 0:50 Mins

   I added the video above, not a review but a sample video from the camera of some deer playing in our back yard. I used the included software to edit the video remove the sound. Bear in mind that the video size/quality had to be reduced to share on Amazon.

   My wife and I did a lot of research online looking for a camera with a 10x or larger zoom, video capability, low light w/o flash and most of all easy to use. We first purchased the Coolpix L610 Nikon COOLPIX L610 16 MP Digital Camera with 14x Zoom NIKKOR Glass Lens and 3-inch LCD (Black) at our local Best Buy because it was on sale and over $100 cheaper than the L820. This was a mistake, we got the camera home and it just didn’t take the pictures we expected (flash picture came out almost black and the zoom wasn’t as awesome as I had hoped for 🙂 plus more poor reviews than I had noticed). After reading about this camera the L820 and finding that it was actually only $50 more than the L610, we exchanged the L610 for the L820 and we couldn’t be happier.

   I am not a photographer but I like to take pictures and I like them to come out well. This camera allows you to set the camera to Auto mode and not have to think about much else besides finding something to take a picture of. The camera is laid out well, making it easy to choose from the many different modes and preset features to allow you to take best pictures possible, so I think it suits the novice and an intermediate photographer. The zoom is in two places on the top near the shutter release and on the left side of the lens housing which is a nice touch.

   The 30x optical zoom is amazing, allowing us to take close up pictures of wild life without disturbing them and the detail is stunning. So far, we have taken some beautiful pictures of flowers and deer. I will continue to update the review as we take more pictures and some video as well.

   We purchased a 16gb memory card which can hold over 3500 pictures on the highest setting or over 2 hours of HD video. We also bought this charger and batteries eneloop NEW 2000mAh Typical, 1900mAh Minimum, 1500 cycle, 4 Pack AA, Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries with 4 Position Charger so we will never have to worry about buying batteries again. We will get another set for back up sometime soon.

   The only issues I have with the camera so far is that the lens cap is secured to the case and not the lens, so you must make sure to take the cap off before turning on the camera. Also, I wish they included the micro HDMI cable like Mediabridge Micro-HDMI to HDMI Cable with Ethernet – (6 Feet) – FLEX Series High Speed then you can hook up your camera to your TV and show your HD videos you shot in HD. The cable that is included is your simple RCA inputs and that wont display in HD.

   Overall for $200 we couldn’t have asked for more. 30x zoom, 16 mp, awesome low light capabilities, easy to shoot, fast turn on time and many more features. I would recommend this camera to anyone looking for a powerful camera on a budget.

   Updated 6/28/13 – We added a few pictures to the image gallery to show the quality pictures the camera takes. We are by no means photographers but the camera does all the work for us. We are very pleased with this camera.

   Update 8/6/13 – We have taken probably 100+ pictures and at least 10 minutes of video and we are still on the original batteries after 6 weeks of use. We still love the camera and we haven’t found a real fault yet! The videos have come out amazing, we couldn’t be happier.

   Amazon has removed the pictures we posted, looks like all customer images are being removed, which is a shame.

   We have been able to transfer pictures with out using any software or drivers on my 10 year old spare XP laptop using the provided USB cable. The file transfer speed is very quick. I would suggest if you have any troubles with transferring pictures that a card reader is a great way to go and easy to use method of transferring files from any type of card. IOGEAR SD/MicroSD/MMC Card Reader/Writer GFR204SD (Green/Gray) would work excellent for this.

   Update 12/2/13 – Used the timer feature and a tripod for Thanksgiving pictures and they couldn’t have come out better. The flash on the camera is bright and accurate…

   Read more

   Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

   Was this review helpful to you? 
   

   
   |

    Comments (54)

   Reply